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cleanthony early

Once again the Knicks hit .500 and once again go on a losing streak. Melo played hurt and then didn’t play. Lance missed some games and we realized how much he means to the team. The rankings look pretty different this week due to injuries and some up and down play. The OKC game is included in these rankings because I’m doing this a day late this week.

Melo started off the week hot but was progressively more hobbled each game, culminating in a DNP against OKC. If the Knicks are going to make a playoff push Melo has to get healthy fast. Continue reading →

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The Knicks went 2-2 this week. That’s OK, but losing to Brooklyn and needing double overtime to beat the ’76ers isn’t good. I guess it could have been worse, and there were some nice performances in Melo’s 2 game absence.

Porzingis has had good shooting nights more often than not lately. It looks like stamina is the only thing holding him back, which is understandable since he has already played more minutes than all of last season.

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It looks like that embarrassment against the Bulls on the 1st really rallied this team. A 3 and 1 week with the one loss being a missed 3 at the buzzer, which would have made the Knicks the first team to beat the Spurs at home all season.

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Three games and three losses. The Rockets game was tough, that should have been a win. The most important thing now is to not lose Wednesdays game against the 0-18 76ers. Everyone is going to be ranked 14th next week if that happens.

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Pretty decent week. The Knicks went 2-2, were .1 seconds away from beating the Hornets and were in control of the Cavs game until that terrible 4th quarter. Melo is finally playing well and Afflalo is back in the lineup. Fishers 11 man rotation makes these rankings pretty difficult.

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In our last draft preview, we look at one of the most talked options with the pick, trading it. Whether it be trading the pick for a superstar or to trade down, a lot of talk has been about trading the pick. So, I decided to create 12 mock trades that the Knicks could do. Here are some notes before you read this:

1) Some of these trade include the Knicks acquiring players owed more money than them the cap allows, so some of them would have to be done once free agency starts, but they can be agreed on draft day.

2) WARNING: Some of these trades are really crazy…

3) …But no, you can’t do Lebron/KD/Anthony Davis for the pick, nice try. Trades have to make sense for all teams involved.

4) Teams trading for the pick are probably targeting Kristaps Porzingis, the big man from Latvia producing tons of draft buzz, or Emmanuel Mudiay, the athletically gifted PG that played in China last year.

5) Knicks have a ton of trade exceptions that expire on draft night. A trade exception is essentially a cap filler in a trade. To keep things simple, I won’t include them in these trades.
Alright, now that we’ve got that down, let’s look at the trades!

Trade #1: NY Deals with MJ

NYK Gets:

CHA Gets:

SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

4th Pick

9th Pick

39th Pick

Why this Trade goes down:

The Knicks are doing this because MKG is very very good. While people may say that he’s a bust for going 2nd overall, that’s because they are only looking at his two weaknesses: his jump shot (that’s actually improved) and his 1 on 1 game. If you look at any other aspect at the game, he’s very good at it. MKG is athletic, an amazing defender, passable ball handler and playmaker, is a good slasher and good rebounder. Him next to Melo at the 3 or 4 is a great combo. With the 9th pick the Knicks could possibly take Cameron Payne, Frank Kaminsky or Stanley Johnson, or they could trade down this pick again to get a pick more around 14 & 15 to get even another asset. The second round pick is also nice. The Hornets are doing this because their roster is a mess and they need a franchise player, which they could get in Mudiay or Porzingis at 4. Also while giving up MKG stings, he is a restricted free agent next summer and I’m not sure if Charlotte wants to give a ton of money for him as while he’s very good, he’s not a franchise player.

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The Knicks went 2-1 this week which is their 2nd winning week in a row. Great news if you like meaningless wins, not so great if you are rooting for a top 3 draft pick. One more week until the all-star game after which Melo will hopefully shut it down and the Knicks will get the tank back on track.

Shumpert has been the Knicks best player so far this season. He shot .500 or better in 4 of the last 5 games and seems to have developed a 3 point shot. My one criticism is he seems too hyper on defense. He gets some dumb fouls and has a habit of trying to cover whoever had the ball. For example, leaving Korver open at the 3 point line to double team Antic in the post is not a great decision.

For a backup point guard forced into a starting point guard position Shane has been doing OK. His numbers won’t blow you away but he doesn’t turn the ball over very much and he plays defense. Two things Felton did not do last last season.

Amare has been rebounding like a madman this week. He hasn’t been scoring a ton but he’s been scoring efficiently. His defense is still a complete mess but at this point I think we’re seeing best case scenario Amare.

Melo is here by default because no one played better. But if he has 1 more 25% shooting night while taking over 20 shots I’m dropping him down to 10th. He did look better when playing PF, you know, the position we have massive amounts of data showing he’s better at. Let’s keep playing him at the SF position though.

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Now is the time to stand up and applaud Phil Jackson (if you haven’t already), for the heist he pulled off yesterday in the trade with the Dallas Mavericks. Phil Jackson shipped out the 14 million dollar contract of Tyson Chandler and the multiyear deal Raymond Felton still had remaining. The Knicks received from the Mavericks point guard Jose Calderon, backup shooting guard Wayne Ellington, starting center Samuel Dalambert, promising young point guard Shane Larkin, and two second draft picks in tonight’s draft. With the Knicks actually making smart moves and getting back draft picks, its time start being proud of the fact that for one day we are not the laughing stock of the NBA when it comes to trades. (Player contracts are another story, but at least we are improving in one area). The Knicks come out of this deal looking to go younger and looking to get rid of big contracts. Expect that trend to continue as the offseason progresses. Could we possibly see a J.R. Smith trade tonight instead of a Shumpert trade? Could we possibly see Jose Calderon be traded one day after we acquired him? A lot of new possibilities have emerged with this trade. I would expect the Knicks draft strategy to deviate after yesterday’s deal, so with that said let us take a look at who the Knicks might target in the second round and look at the chance that the Knicks still trade into the first round.

Point Guards:

Before the trade I had the Knicks trading up to the 21st spot with the OKC Thunder to draft Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis. Trading Shumpert for Ennis would be a good move in my book and would welcome the addition of pass first point guard that has great court vision and plays defense. Yet with the addition of Shane Larkin and Jose Calderon the Knicks might draft a point guard with their later pick. The Knicks might target Louisville guard Russ Smith. Smith is a talented 3-point shooter, decent defender, and a good value for a late second round pick. I would hope the Knicks could find a way to trade Jose Calderon but if they don’t having Larkin and Calderon going forward would be an upgrade over Toure Murray and Raymond Felton.